Benefit More Than a Little Bit Country

City slickers sporting cowboy boots and 10-gallon hats kicked up their heels at a “Country Down With Cabaret” staged by the singles’ Cabaret chapter of the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

About 250 urban cowboys and cowgirls danced their achy-breaky hearts out at the hoedown that took place Friday at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. The $45-per-person country-Western dinner, dance and silent auction roped in $6,000 for the center in Costa Mesa.

Party Round-Up

Any worries that singles would be reluctant to dance vanished early in the evening. By 8 p.m., almost everybody was on the dance floor with or without a partner, doing the tush push, boot, scoot and boogie and other country-Western line dances.

“It looks like an aerobics class,” said Carol Williams, event co-chairwoman, surveying the crowded dance floor.

“This is fun because everybody can do it,” said Vonnie Timm of Corona del Mar. “You don’t need a partner. You can do it by yourself if you want to and get kind of crazy.”

Dance instructor Tom Potts was on hand to teach the crowd a few new steps.

“We’re starting with something simple like Black Velvet, but after that we’ll have to move things up a notch,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot better dancers here than I expected to.”

When they weren’t dancing, guests lined up for a buffet stocked with hamburgers, coleslaw, baked beans and “buffalo brownies” that tasted much better than their name suggested.

Riding High

For the Cabaret chapter, a country-Western party was a change of pace.

“We’ve always done formal events. This year we said, ‘Let’s do something different.’ Many of us are very interested in country-Western music,” said Char Garon, event chairwoman who sported gold cowboy boots and a star-spangled white jacket with gold beaded fringe.

“Our goal was to have a really fun event that would help put us on the map,” she said.

The 150-member chapter is already known far and wide. Members come from all over Orange County and as far away as San Francisco. The majority live in Newport Beach and Irvine.

The chapter, one of only two devoted to singles in the guild system for the Performing Arts Center, has held New Year’s and Cinco de Mayo celebrations, theater outings and sports events. While the group’s purpose is to raise money for the center’s operating costs, occasionally these gatherings lead to romance.

“You can come here and meet your wife or husband. Two of our former presidents met and married through Cabaret,” said Frank Barcelona, chapter president. “But we don’t keep score. We do this for fun.”

Faces in the crowd included: Chuck Bartell, Stanley Behrens, Darwin Bolsinger, Pat Carson, Cork Catrow, Warren Goetze, Erika Faust, Eileen Forsberg, Kay Green, Arlene Howard, Jerry Leland, Marie Marabello, Jean McDonald, Roger Monroe, Kathy O’Neil, Barbara Roberts, Paul Rosenberger, Gayle Ross, Kay Sandell, Bill Silliman, Richard Tischer, Christine Verbeerst, Ray Vidal, Shirley Vivion, Pat Watcher, Margie Wedlock and Rex Zonner.